#ELLection – Labour maintains stronghold in Tower Hamlets

After a seismic night, the Tower Hamlets constituencies of Bethnal Green and Bow and Poplar and Limehouse remained Labour strongholds after the snap general election yesterday with two convincing wins.

Labour’s Rushanara Ali in Bethnal Green and Jim Fitzpatrick in Poplar were both re-elected to the House of Commons after landslide voting in their constituencies, with both candidates increasing their majorities by around 10,000.

Labour supporters were ecstatic as the results were announced at 4am on Friday June 9 at the ExCel centre.

Rushanara Ali, often seen as the future of the Labour Party, was elected for a third time in a row, with a majority of over 35,000.

She took on her position as Bethnal Green and Bow’s MP in 2010, increased on her majority in the 2015 general election, receiving 42,969 votes and 71.8 per cent of the vote. She gained 61.2 per cent of the votes in 2015.

Ali said: “I am delighted to have been elected once again as the Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow […] Ladies and gentlemen this victory is an expression of hope over fear”.

Poplar and Limehouse MP, Jim Fitzpatrick. Pic: Tower Hamlets Council

Poplar and Limehouse’s MP Jim Fitzpatrick won by over 27,000, receiving 39,558 votes and 67.3 per cent of the vote; in 2015 he had a majority of 58.5 per cent.

Fitzpatrick has been a long term MP, having served as a Member of Parliament since 1997, for Poplar and Canning Town prior to a constituency boundary change, which created Poplar and Limehouse, which he has held since its creation.

In his victory speech, Fitzpatrick said to the crowd at ExCel: “I and my team will continue to try and focus on things important for Poplar and Limehouse, such as housing, the NHS, education, the economy and child poverty”.

In both constituencies, Labour faced opposition from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, The Green Party and Independent standing candidates.

In Bethnal Green and Bow, the Conservative Party, represented by Charlotte Chirico came second to Labour’s landslide with 7576 votes, the independent candidate Ajmal Masroor, edged out the Liberal Democrats to come third in the vote.

In Poplar and Limehouse, Christopher Wilford of the Conservative Party candidate, came second with 11,846 votes, Elaine Bagshaw and the Liberal Democrats were behind in third, having improved on the 2015 general election, receiving 3959 votes.

The turnout for Poplar and Limehouse was higher than the last general election, going from 62.2 per cent to 67.6 per cent.

Turnout also improved in Bethnal Green and Bow going from 64.0 per cent to 69.6 per cent.

At the start of the night, the Labour supporters at the ExCel began to look optimistic following the exit polls.

The results from Tower Hamlets were part of an exciting night for Labour and a disappointing night for the Tories.

Theresa May’s hopes for a large majority in the House of Commons were sunk, with the results showing a hung parliament.

In a closely fought snap general election, Labour picked up confidence with a large amount of support coming from 18-24 year olds.